Santa Clara County, CA History
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler
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Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California,
Illustrated. - Edited by H. S. Foote.- Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company,
1888.
THE LICK OBSERVATORY
ON MOUNT HAMILTON.
THE history of the great observatory on Mt. Hamil ton, containing the
largest telescope in the world, and the biography of its founder must
necessarily be both interesting and important. James Lick was of a quiet,
uncommunicative disposition, and left but little from which to write his life
history, The prominence which he achieved by his princely gift to science has
caused people from all sections of the country to recall incidents of his life,
and these fragments have been gathered together and woven into a connected
narra�tive by the San Jose Mercury, from which we compile the following:
James Lick was born at Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania, August 25, 1796.
His ancestors were of German extraction and spelled the family name " Luk." His
grandfather had come to America early in the century and had served in the army
of Washington during the War of the Revolution. Nothing is known of the life of
James Lick, until at the age of twenty-one years he entered himself as an
apprentice to an organ-maker at Hanover, Pennsylvania. He worked here for a
short time, and in 1819 took a position in the employ of Joseph Hiskey, a
prominent piano manufacturer of Baltimore, Maryland. An incident of his
experience here has been recalled.
One day a penniless youth, named Conrad Meyer, applied at the factory
for employment. He attracted the fancy of young Lick, who took the stranger in
charge, provided him with food and proper clothing, and secured him a place in
the establishment, The friendship thus formed lasted through life. The
preference of James Lick for the youth was justified by his later life. In 1854
the pianos of Conrad Meyer took the first prize in the London International
Exhibition, their maker possessing an immense manufactory in Philadelphia and
ranking as one of the most eminent piano-makers in the United States.
In 1820 James Lick left the employment of Joseph Hiskey and went to New
York, expecting to start in business on his own account. This venture was
restricted by his want of capital, and, if attempted at all, was brief, for in
the following year he left the United States for Buenos Ayres, South America,
with the intention of devoting himself there to his trade. He found the Buenos
Ayreans of that period a singularly handsome and refined race of almost purely
Spanish extraction, and attaining, by their mode of life in the fine climate of
that region, a remarkable physical and social development. By careful attention
to business he prospered among them, accumulating a considerable competence
during his first ten years of South American experience. "In 1832," writes his
friend Conrad Meyer, in the Philadelphia Bulletin, " I was in business on my own
account on Fifth Street near Prune, Philadelphia, when I was suddenly surprised
one day at seeing James Lick walk in. He had just arrived from South America,
and had brought with him hides and nutria skins to the amount of $40,000, which
he was then disposing of. Nutria skins are obtained from a species of otter
found along the River La Plata. He stated that he intended settling in
Philadelphia, and to this end he some days later rented a house on Eighth
Street, near Arch, with the intention of manufacturing pianos, paying $400 as
rental for one year in advance. In a few days he left for New York and Boston,
and, writing me from the latter city, announced that he had given up the idea of
remaining permanently in Philadelphia, and requested that I should call on the
house agent and make the best settlement I could with him. I did so, and
receiving from him $300 out of the $400, I returned the key." The sudden change
of purpose which led James Lick to abandon his design of remaining in
Philadelphia and return to South America seems to indicate a whimsical temper.
It may be, however, that during his ten years' stay in Buenos Ayres he
cherished, as many men do, an ideal of his youth, and dreamed out a business
career in his native land which, when he returned to it, he saw to be
impracticable. He went back to Buenos Ayres, filled certain piano orders he had
taken, settled his affairs there, and sailed for Valparaiso, Chili, where for
four years he followed his vocation. Occasionally his friend, Conrad Meyer,
heard from him, the correspondence being limited to orders for pianos to be
shipped to him, with drafts for their payment; but outside of these indications
that Mr. Lick was engaged in trade, little is known of his life in Valparaiso or
the business ventures he engaged in outside of his trade. At the end of four
years he quitted Valparaiso, and went to Callao, Peru.
He lived in Peru for eleven years, occupying himself in manufacturing
pianos, with occasional investments in commercial enterprises. That he was
successful is shown by the statement, made by himself, that in 1845 he was worth
$59,000. At this time he began to think seriously of coming to California. His
friend, Mr. Foster, of the house of Alsop & Co., of Lima, urged him to remain in
Peru. He told Lick that the United States would not acquire California; that the
inhabitants were a set of cut-throats who would murder him for his money, and
that it would be folly for him to abandon a lucrative business to go to a new
country that had so bad a reputation. To all these arguments Mr. Lick replied
that he knew the character of the American Government; that it was not of a
nature to let go of a country it had once acquired, and as for being
assassinated, he had confidence in his own ability to protect himself. He
determined to go, but before he could go he had to fill orders for several
pianos he had contracted for. This would not have been a difficult matter had it
not been for the fact that, at this juncture, all his workmen left him to go to
Mexico. As he could not replace them, he went to work himself, and after two
years of hard labor finished the last of the pianos. He determined that there
should be no further delay in his departure.
His stock, which his inventory showed him was worth $59,000, he
sacrificed for $30,000. This money, which was in Spanish doubloons, he secured
in a large iron safe, which he brought with him to California. Among the odd
articles which James Lick brought to California from Peru was the work-bench
which he had there used in his trade. It was not an elaborate affair, and the
object of its deportation to this land of timber hardly appears, unless Mr. Lick
had acquired an affection for this companion of his daily labors. He retained
this bench through all his California experience, and it now stands in the hall
of the Lick Observatory at Mt. Hamilton.
Mr. Lick arrived in San Francisco late in 1847. At that time there was
little to indicate the future prosperity of the metropolis of the Pacific Coast.
California Street was its southern boundary, while Sansome Street was on the
water front sand dunes stretched out to the southern and western horizon, with
occasionally a rough shanty to break the monotony of the landscape. Mr. Lick
quietly invested his money in these sand hills, paying dollars for lots that
were not considered, by the inhabitants, as worth cents. He came to Santa Clara
County and purchased the property north of San Jose, on the Guadaloupe, which
afterwards became famous as the Lick Mills property. He also bought the tract of
land just inside the present southern city limits, and which was afterwards
known as the Lick Homestead. All these lands were vacant and unimproved; at this
time the agricultural lands were not considered of any value. Even as prominent
and intelligent a man as John B. Weller said he "would not give six bits for all
the agricultural lands in California." It is a question with some people as to
whether these purchases by Mr. Lick were the result of luck or foresight.
Although considered eccentric, Mr. Lick's business sagacity has never been
doubted, and it is fair to suppose that he foresaw the commercial importance of
San Francisco, and the future agricultural importance of the fields of the Santa
Clara Valley.
During seven years after his arrival Mr. Lick engaged in no particular
business other than to invest his Spanish doubloons as above stated. The first
improvement of his property made by Mr. Lick was done upon that portion of his
Santa Clara County lands known as the "Lick Mill Tract." An old flour mill had
stood upon the property when he purchased it in 1852, and this fact may have
moved his mind toward the erection at that point of his own mill. In 1853 he
began to lay the plans and gather the material he intended to employ in its
construction. In 1855 work was begun, and to those who saw the structure rise,
it was the wonder of the time. The wood of which its interior finish was
composed, was of the finest mahogany, finished and inlaid in the most solid,
elegant, and expensive style. The machinery imported for its works was also of a
quality never before sent to the Pacific Coast. The entire cost of the mill was
estimated by Mr. Lick himself, at $200,000. It became known by the name of the
"Mahogany Mill," or perhaps more commonly as "Lick's Folly." When put in
operation it turned out the finest brand of flour on the Pacific Coast. It will
always be a matter of doubt whether this mill was erected by Mr. Lick as a whim
of his eccentric nature or as a protest against the flimsy, cheap, and temporary
style of building then common to the new State.
There is a romantic legend preserved in the memory of the old
acquaintances of Mr. Lick which goes to explain the origin of the famous mill.
The tale runs that when Lick was a boy he was apprenticed to a miller who,
besides the possession of a competency and a flourishing business, had also an
exceedingly pretty daughter. Strange as the assertion may seem to those who were
acquainted only with the unlovely old age of this strange character, James Lick
was a comely young man, and upon him the miller's daughter cast approving eyes.
Lick met her more than half-way, and a warm attachment sprang up between the
apprentice and the heiress. The ancient miller, however, soon saw the drift of
matters, and interposed his parental authority to break the peaceful current of
true love. Young Lick declared that he loved the girl and wished to marry her,
with her father's consent. Thereupon Hans became indignant, and, pointing to his
mill, exclaimed: "Out, you beggar ! Dare you cast your eyes upon my daughter,
who will inherit my riches ? Have you a mill like this ? Have you a single penny
in your purse ?" To this tirade Lick replied that he had nothing as yet, but one
day he would have a mill beside which this one would be a pig-sty !
Lick at once departed, and at length drifted to California, seeking the
fortune which in one minute he had determined to possess, and which
determination never afterward for a moment left him. Nor did he forget his last
words to the miller. When he was a rich man he built this mill, and when it was
finished there had been nothing left undone which could have added to the
perfection of its appointments. Its machinery was perfect, and its walls and
floors and ceilings of polished, costly woods. Not being able to bring the
miller to view the realization of his boyish declaration, Lick caused the mill
to be photographed within and without, and, although his old sweetheart had long
since been married, he sent her father the pictures and recalled to him the day
he boasted of his mill.
Although the Mahogany Mill gratified Mr. Lick's pride in its
construction and in the brand of its product, and although it may have satisfied
the ancient grudge against the traditional miller, it was not a financial
success. The periodical floods of the Guadaloupe River inundated the lands about
it, destroyed his orchards and roads, and interfered with the operation of the
mill. In the year 1873 he surprised everybody with the gift of the whole
property to the Thomas Paine Memorial Association of Boston. For some years he
had been a close student and great admirer of the writings of Paine, and he took
this means of proving the faith that was in him. On January 16, 1873, he made a
formal transfer of the property to certain named trustees of the association,
imposing upon these the trust to sell the same and donate one-half of the
proceeds to the building of a memorial hall in Boston, and so invest the other
half that a lecture course could be maintained out of its increase. The
association sent an agent out to California to look over the acquisition, with
power to deal with it. Without consulting Mr. Lick, he sold the property for
about $18,000, and returned home, at which proceeding the donor was so
completely disgusted that he lost all his past interest in the advancement of
the theories of Thomas Paine !
The next scheme of improvement to which Mr. Lick turned his attention
after the completion of his mill was the erection of the Lick Hotel in San
Francisco. He had bought the property upon which it stands for an ounce of
gold-dust, soon after his arrival in California, and until 1861 it had lain idle
and unimproved. The lot originally extended the entire length of the block, on
Montgomery Street, from Sutter to Post, and the hotel would have covered this
space had not Mr. Lick sold the Post Street corner to the Masonic order. The
story goes that Alexander G. Abell, on behalf of the Masons, approached Mr. Lick
with an offer to buy the property. The owner, in accordance with his seldom
violated custom, refused to part with the property, until Mr. Abell frankly
explained that the Masons had been all over the city looking for a site and
could find none that answered their requirements like this, when Mr. Lick gave
way and sold them the corner. The hotel is a familiar object to all who visit
San Francisco. At the time of its construction it was the finest hostelry on the
Pacific Coast, and it still ranks well up among first-class family hotels. Its
internal finish was, in the main, designed by Mr. Lick himself, who took a
special pride in the selection of fine materials and in their combination in
artistic and effective forms. The dining-room floor of the hotel is a marvel of
beautiful wood-work, made out of many thousand pieces of different wood, and all
polished like a table. It was probably the early devotion of Mr. Lick to the
trade of a piano-maker which caused him to take this keen delight in the use of
fine woods, which manifested itself both in his Mahogany Mill and in the Lick
Hotel. That part of the life history of James Lick which lies between the years
1861 and 1873 is full of interest to those who would form a correct estimate of
the man. The course of affairs had amply justified his early judgment of the
future values of California real estate. His sand-hill lots, bought for a song
in 1848, grew to be golden islands of wealth amid the rising rivers of
metropolitan trade. The investments made in Santa Clara County lands all proved
profitable and yielded rich returns. By the very bull-dog tenacity with which he
hung to his acquisitions, he became, during the '60's,' one of the wealthiest
men on the Pacific Coast. His reputation, too, was Statewide, made so not only
by his wealth, but by the rumor of his eccentricities. He had already passed the
age of sixty years, when most men begin to "glide into the lean and slippered
pantaloon." He even attained and overstepped the prophetic boundary of
three-score years and ten. Yet he still maintained the positive, energetic,
self-possessed individuality of his earlier years.
It is very probable that the advancing age of James Lick acted upon his nature
in developing into active eccentricities the natural peculiarities of his
disposition. Most of the pioneers who remember him during the first decade of
his California career, describe him as a close, careful, self-contained man,
cold and sometimes crabbed of disposition, going his own lonely way in business
and in life. Those who knew him between '61 and '73 intensify these
characteristics and declare him to have been miserly, irascible, selfish,
solitary, who cherished little affection for his race or kin, and whose chief
delight appeared to lie in the indulgence of the whims of a thorny and
unfragrant old age. It is probable that this later estimate of Mr. Lick presents
his character with too much of shadow, and that, as our narrative develops, and
combines the incidents and traditions of this period of his life, and lays them
alongside the grand conceptions of his closing years, his real self will be
revealed in outlines less repulsive and more consistent with the achievements of
his completed career. In fact, from these few men who held the confidence and
shared in all the plans of Mr. Lick, has ever gone out the denial that he was
miserly or selfish or forgetful of his duties to mankind, and the claim that
beneath the ice of his outward nature flowed the warm currents of a
philanthropic heart.
The traditions of Mr. Lick's eccentric career during these years are numerous
and amusing. Most of his time after the completion of his hotel was spent in
Santa Clara County. He lived upon his Lick Mill property and gave a great deal
of attention to its improvement. Upon it he began early to set out trees of
various kinds, both for fruit and ornament. He held some curious theories of
tree-planting and believed in the efficiency of a bone deposit about the roots
of every young tree. Many are the stories told by old residents of James Lick
going along the high�way in an old rattle-trap, rope-tied wagon, with a
bear-skin robe for a seat cushion, and stopping every now and then to gather in
the bones of some dead beast. People used to think him crazy until they saw him
among his beloved trees, planting some new and rare variety, and carefully
mingling about its young roots the finest of loams with the bones he had
gathered during his lonely rides, There is a story extant, and probably well
founded, which illustrates the odd means he employed to secure hired help at
once trustworthy and obedient. One day while he was planting his orchard a man
applied to him for work. Mr. Lick directed him to take the trees he indicated to
a certain part of the grounds and there to plant them with the tops in the earth
and the roots in the air. The man obeyed the directions to the letter, and
reported in the evening for further orders. Mr. Lick went out, viewed his work
with apparent satisfaction, and then ordered him to plant the tree the proper
way and thereafter to continue in his employ !
Another story similar to this is handed down and is entirely authentic.
Mr. Lick was at one time the owner of what is now the Knox Block corner, in San
Jose. A fire having destroyed its buildings, much debris of burned brick
remained scattered over the lot. One day, while Mr. Lick was walking about
viewing his property, a young stranger applied to him for work, and was
instructed to collect a certain quantity of these brick and pile them neatly in
a corner. This he did and reported, when he was told to take the same brick and
pile them neatly in another corner. Without a word he executed the singular
order, and was at once employed and long retained by the eccentric man, who had
thus put his obedience to the test.
Mr. Lick was as fond of flowers as of trees, and took great pains in the
cultivation of rare and beautiful plants. He was very susceptible to praise of
his garden, and equally sensitive to its criticism. One day a party of ladies
visited his Mahogany Mill, and were invited to view his flowers. They were
profuse in their compliments, and he was all-courteous until one of the party
remarked that she had lately seen in San Francisco much finer specimens of some
of his plants. His demeanor changed at once, and telling the company he had yet
another flower garden to show them, he led them by a tortuous trail out into the
midst of a field of blossoming mustard, which grew like a rank forest upon part
of his property, and then slipped away and left them to criticise his "other
garden," and extricate themselves as best they could.
After Mr. Lick had, with almost infinite exertion, improved his mill
property, he found the investment an unsatisfactory and unprofitable one. The
annual floods of the Guadaloupe invaded his orchard, destroyed his garden, arid
covered his land with a deposit of sediment and debris. And so he resolved at
last to transfer his care to the tract of land lying just south of San Jose, and
now known as the Lick Homestead Addition. Presently the people of Santa Clara
County witnessed a strange spectacle. Day after day long trains of carts and
wagons passed slowly through San Jose, carrying tall trees and full-grown
shrubbery, from the old to the new location. Winter and summer alike the work
went on, the old man superintending it all in his rattle-trap wagon and
bear-skin robe. His plans for this new improvement were made regardless of
expense. Tradition tells that he had imported from Australia rare trees, and, in
order to insure their growth, had brought with them whole ship-loads of their
native earth. He conceived the idea of building conservatories superior to any
on the Pacific Coast, and for that purpose had imported from England the
materials for two large conservatories after the model of those in the Kew
Gardens in London. His death occurred before he could have these constructed,
and they remained on the hands of his trustees until a body of San Francisco
gentlemen contributed funds for their purchase and donation to the use of the
public in Golden Gate Park, where they now stand as the wonder and delight of
all who visit that beautiful resort.
It was in the year 1873, when James Lick was seventy-seven years old,
that he began to make those donations, of the then vast estate he possessed,
which culminated in his famous deeds of trust. How long he had given to secret
thought upon the subject no one can tell, but that his gifts were the outcome of
mature deliberation, seems beyond a doubt. For years preceding his bequests he
had been a wide reader upon many subjects. He held a peculiar belief, or rather
want of belief, regarding the future existence, and deemed an earthly
immortality of remembrance all that there was of eternal life. He studied
everything written about Thomas Paine, and made his works the text of his own
opinions. It is related that, while he was engaged in the improvement of the
Lick Homestead property, he became involved in an argument one day with Adolph
Pfister over some religious subject, when the latter suggested that he put to
practical proof the merits of Paineism as contrasted with other moral agencies,
by the erection of a grand college on his property for the education of young
men in his favorite doctrine, and for their equipment as teachers and
missionaries of Paine. The old man appeared attracted with the idea, and gave it
considerable thought, and it is not improbable that it found form in his gift of
the Lick Mill property to the Paine Memorial Association of Boston, which was
the first in time of his donations.
It was, as we have already noted, on January 16, 1873, that Mr. Lick
made his donation of the Lick Mill property to the Thomas Paine Association. On
February 15, 1873, he executed two other gift deeds, one to the California
Academy of Science, and the other to the Society of California Pioneers. To the
former he granted a lot of forty feet frontage on Market Street near Fourth, San
Francisco, and to the latter society a lot of like dimensions on Fourth Street
near Market. These gifts he clogged with certain conditions as to the kind of
buildings to be erected, etc., which were deemed irksome by the donees.
Negotiations began between Mr. Lick and the societies, which continued during
most of the year 1873, when Mr. Lick finally offered to relieve his gift from
all burdensome conditions. This purpose was yet unaccomplished at the time of
his death, but after some little difficulty was arranged satisfactorily to all
concerned by his trustees. Upon the valuable properties thus generously disposed
of, now stand the beautiful buildings of the two societies which received his
benefactions.
The first trust deed by which Mr. Lick gave all his immense estate to
charitable and educational objects was dated June 2, 1874. Among the several
provisions of this instrument was one giving to San Jose $25,000 for the purpose
of establishing an orphan asylum, and one appropriating $700,000 for
establishing an observatory on land belonging to Mr. Lick near Lake Tahoe, in
Placer County. An investigation of the appropriateness of this site was at once
set on foot. It was soon ascertained that the severity of the climate about the
chosen location would seriously interfere both with the effective operation of
the telescope and with the comfort of the visiting public. Mr. Lick then
determined upon a change of site to some spot nearer civilization, and looked
towards Mount St. Helena, in Napa County, as the proper point. He visited St.
Helena and ascended part way to its summit, but before he had pursued his
inquiries far enough to arrive at a conclusion, other circumstances conspired to
change his mind and direct his eyes to Santa Clara County in search of a
favorable site for his observatory.
Although, out of the large amount of property distributed by Mr. Lick,
San Jose received but $25,000, the people of that city were very grateful and
acknowledged their gratitude in a well-worded series of resolutions prepared by
Judge Belden, adopted by the mayor and common council, beautifully engrossed and
officially transmitted to Mr. Lick at San Francisco. Other recipients of Mr.
Lick's benefactions had either responded coldly, or had made no response at all,
and the action of the people at San Jose presented a strong contrast which
attracted Mr. Lick's attention and caused him to think that perhaps he had not
done as much as he should for the county which had so long been his home. The
resolutions reached him at the time he was in doubt as to the location of his
observatory, and he consulted his then confidential agent, Mr. Thos. E. Fraser,
as to the availability of the mountain summits surrounding the Santa Clara
Valley for the home of the telescope. His attention was first called to Mount
Bache, which rises to the height of about four thousand feet on the southwest in
the Santa Cruz Range; but it was found that frequent sea fogs would interfere
with the vision on that elevation. Mr. Fraser then referred Mr. Lick to Mount
Hamilton, and was by him instructed to ascend to its top and investigate its
qualifications for the purpose in hand. In August, 1875, Mr. Fraser, accompanied
by Hon. B. D. Murphy, then mayor of the city of San Jose, went upon the
mountain, found it free from fog, equable of climate, easy of access, and
generally suitable for the location of the great observatory. Mr. Lick then
addressed a communication to the Board of Supervisors of Santa Clara County,
offering to locate the observatory on Mount Hamilton, if the county would
construct a road to the summit. The matters relating to this branch of the
subject will be found fully related in our chapter on " Roads and Highways."
In the meantime Mr. Lick had found that his deed of trust did not
express his intentions as he desired. He found, among other things, that the
strict construction of its terms would postpone the carrying into effect of his
benefactions until after his death. He wanted the work to be pushed forward
during his lifetime. After duly considering these matters he addressed a
communication to his trustees, setting forth his conclusions and intentions, and
revoking the deed and asking them to resign the trust. The trustees consulted a
lawyer, and upon his advice declined to resign, for the alleged reason that they
had already converted about a million of dollars of the real estate into money
and could not be absolved from responsibility by Mr. Lick's will alone. This
involved Mr. Lick in a controversy with his trustees which, at first, threatened
disaster to the beneficiaries. Jno. B. Felton was Mr. Lick's attorney, and
instead of precipitating his client into a lawsuit, he used the columns of the
newspapers so vigorously that the trustees became disgusted and made up an
agreed case, by which the courts relieved them of responsibility and annulled
the deed.
On September 21, 1875, a new and final deed was executed by Mr. Lick,
with Richard S. Floyd, Bernard D. Murphy, Foxan D. Atherton, John H. Lick, and
John Nightingale as trustees. The clause in the deed in reference to the
observatory is as follows:‑
"Third�To expend the sum of seven hundred thousand dollars ($700,000)
for the purpose of purchasing land, and constructing and putting up on such land
as shall be designed by the party of the first part, a powerful telescope,
superior to and more powerful than any telescope yet made, with all the
machinery appertaining thereto and appropriately connected therewith, or that is
necessary and convenient to the most powerful telescope now in use, or suited to
one more powerful than any yet constructed; and also a suitable observatory
connected therewith. The parties of the second part hereto, and their
successors, shall, as soon as said telescope and observatory are constructed,
convey the land whereupon the same may be situated, and the telescope and the
observatory, and all the machinery and apparatus connected therewith, to the
corporation known as the 'Regents of the University of California;' and if,
after the construction of said telescope and observatory, there shall remain of
said seven hundred thousand dollars in gold coin any surplus, the said parties
of the second part shall turn over such surplus to said corporation, to be
invested by it in bonds of the United States, or of the city and county of San
Francisco, or other good and safe interest-bearing bonds, and the income thereof
shall be devoted to the maintenance of said telescope and the observatory
connected therewith, and shall be made useful in promoting science; and the said
telescope and observatory are to be known as the 'Lick Astronomical Department
of the University of California."
On making the new deed Mr. Lick selected Mount Hamilton as the site for
the University, and the trustees, acting with the regents of the State
University, secured an act of Congress setting apart the public land at the
summit for this purpose. This tract contains about five hundred acres, and is so
situated as to prevent settlement in the immediate vicinity of the observatory,
or the inauguration of any enterprise in the immediate neighborhood that would
be inimical to the interests of the institution.
John B. Felton charged $100,000 for his services in annulling the first
deed, and presented the bill to the new trustees. They refused to allow the
claim unless Mr. Lick would sign a written authorization. Mr. Felton, with Mr.
Murphy, one of the trustees, called on Mr. Lick for this purpose.
"Mr. Felton," said the old philanthropist, "when we made the contract
upon which that claim is based, we supposed that to cancel my first trust deed
would be an exceedingly arduous matter, involving much expense, a long delay and
years of the most elaborate and annoying litigation. The whole entanglement,
however, has been adjusted in a few months without any difficulty, but little
outlay, and with only a formal litigation; I think, under the changed
circumstances, you ought to diminish the amount of your fee."
"Your proposition, Mr. Lick," responded Felton, "reminds me of a story I
once heard about a countryman who had a bad toothache and went to a rustic
dentist to have the offender extracted. The dentist produced a rusty set of
instruments, seated him in a rickety chair, and went to work. After some hours
of hard labor to himself, and the most extreme agony to the countryman, the
tooth was extracted, and he charged him a dollar. A few months later the same
countryman had another attack of toothache, and this time thought best to
procure a metropolitan dentist. He went to the city, found the best dentist in
it, and offered his swollen jaw for operation. The expert dentist passed his
hand soothingly over his face, located the tooth with painless delicacy,
produced a splendid set of instruments, and before the country�man knew it, had
the tooth out. His charge was five dollars. 'Five dollars!' said the countryman,
'why, when Jones, down at the village, pulled my last tooth it took three hours,
during which he broke his chair, broke my jaw, broke his tools, and mopped the
whole floor with me several times, and he only charged me a dollar. You ought to
diminish your bill!"
Mr. Lick signed the authorization and Mr. Felton received his money.
In 1876 Mr. Lick had trouble with his trustees. One of the duties Mr.
Lick wished first performed was the erection of his family monument in
Fredericksburg, Pennsylvania. It was during the arrangement for this work that
the causes attending the retirement of the second Board arose, and in this wise
it will be noticed that among the members of this Board of Trustees was John H.
Lick. Although James Lick is reputed to have never been married, this man was
his son. He was born in Pennsylvania on June 30, 1818, just about the time, it
will be noticed, of James Lick's somewhat hurried departure for New York, and
thence to South America. Who was the mother of this boy does not appear, unless,
perhaps, it was the miller's comely daughter. Long after Mr. Lick came to
California he sent for his son, then grown to manhood, and kept him for some
years at work in the Mahogany Mill. Here he remained until August, 1871, when he
returned to his Eastern home. When Mr. Lick made his first deed of trust, he
directed the payment to his son of $3,000. With this pittance John H. Lick was
naturally dissatisfied, and hence in the second deed he was given the sum of
$150,000, and made one of the trustees of the rest. To him, as trustee, the
power was delegated to contract for the Fredericksburg monument, but for some
reason he failed or refused to sign the contract. When this fact was made known
to James Lick, in the summer of 1876, he became very much incensed against John
H. Lick, and began to suspect that he had still further designs upon his
property, and in the weakness of his old age he included the whole Board in his
ill-humor, and suddenly required the resignation of the whole body. In this the
trustees, except John H. Lick, concurred, and a new Board was appointed by Mr.
Lick. Captain Floyd having been in Europe during this last entanglement, was not
included in the old man's wrath, but was reappointed on the new Board.
Mr. Lick died October 1, 1876, and before the new Board was fully
organized. He was eighty years of age. His body lay in state at Pioneer Hall,
San Francisco, and was followed by an immense procession to Lone Mountain
Cemetery, there to rest until a more fitting resting-place might be ready for
its reception. Some months before his death, in a conversation with B. D. Murphy
upon the subject of the probability of his death, Mr. Lick expressed the desire
that he might be buried on Mount Hamilton, either within or to one side of the
proposed observatory, after the manner of Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of
St. Paul's cathedral, who was buried in the crypt in 1723.
Immediately on the death of his father, John H. Lick returned from the
East and secured letters of administration upon the estate. This was understood
to be the beginning of an attempt to nullify the trust deed; after testing
several points in the courts, the trustees finally effected a compromise by
which they were to pay Lick $535,000 in full of all claims against the estate.
The Society of Pioneers and the Academy of Sciences had been made residuary
legatees by the deed, and they insisted that this payment to John Lick should be
made pro rata from each of the bequests. The Academy of Sciences was
particularly active in the courts to compel the payment to be made in this
manner. After nearly a year of litigation, the courts decided that the special
bequests could not be disturbed, and the compromise money must come from the
share of the residuary legatees.
As soon as possible after the completion of the road to the summit, work
was commenced on the buildings. About two million six hundred thousand brick
were used, all of which were manufactured in the immediate vicinity. Early in
1887, the work had progressed sufficiently to permit the request of Mr. Lick in
regard to his burial-place to be complied with, and on the ninth day of January
his remains were brought to San Jose, whence, followed by a large procession of
officials and prominent citizens, they were conveyed to the mountain. A tomb had
been prepared in the foundation of the pier, which was to support the great
telescope, and in this, with imposing ceremonies, were the remains deposited.
The following document, signed by the trustees and representatives of the State
University, the Academy of Sciences, Pioneers, and the mayor of San Jose, was
sealed up with the casket:
"This is the body of James Lick, who was born in Fredericksburg,
Pennsylvania, August 25, 1796, and who died in San Francisco, California,
October 1, 1876.
"It has been identified by us, and in our presence has been sealed up
and deposited in this foundation pier of the great equatorial telescope, this
ninth day of January, 1887.
"In the year 1875 he executed a deed of trust of his entire estate, by
which he provided for the comfort and culture of the citizens of California, for
the advancement of handcraft and rede-craft among the youth of San Francisco and
of the State; for the development of scientific research and the diffusion of
knowledge among men, and for founding in the State of California an astronomical
observatory, to surpass all others existing in the world at this epoch.
"This observatory has been erected by the trustees of his estate, and
has been named the Lick Astronomical Department of the University of California,
in memory of the founder.
"This refracting telescope is the largest which has ever been
constructed, and the astronomers who have tested it declare that its performance
surpasses that of all other telescopes.
"The two disks of glass for the objective were cast by Ch. Feil, of
France, and were brought to a true figure by Alvan Clark & Sons, of
Massachusetts.
"Their diameter is thirty-six inches, and their focal length is
fifty-six feet two inches.
"Upon the completion of this structure the regents of the University of
California became the trustees of this astronomical observatory."
The contract for the great lens was made with Alvan Clark & Sons, of
Cambridge, Massachusetts, for $5 ,000. They employed M. Feil & Sons, of Paris,
to cast the glass. The contract was made in 1880. In 1882 the flint-glass was
cast and sent to Messrs. Clark, but it was not until 1885 that a perfect
crown-glass could be obtained. The Clarks succeeded in obtaining a true figure
in 1886, and on the twenty-ninth of December, of that year, the great lens
reached Mount Hamilton. The mounting of the instrument and other details of
construction occupied eighteen months' more time, and in June, 1888, the whole
work was completed. The transfer of the observatory from the trustees to the
regents of the university took place June 1, 1888, being fourteen years from the
date of Mr. Lick's first deed.
Old Landmarks.
BUILDINGS.
DURING the Spanish and American administration in California, the
architecture was of a very rude character. The walls of the best houses were of
adobe, and the roofs generally of straw. Later, tiles were substituted for straw
in the more pretentious structures. This style of building was in vogue for some
time after the American occupation. Up to 1850, the city of San Jose had more
the appearance of a military camp on the frontier, than of a town. The rude
houses with their thatched roofs were supplemented by tents, and there was
hardly a comfortable building in the district. The ordinance establishing the
first fire limits, passed July 11, 1850, gives a pretty good idea of the
character of the houses. These limits were described as commencing at the
intersection of Second and St. James Streets, thence along Second to San Carlos,
thence to the Acequia, thence along the Acequia northerly to a point which would
intersect a prolongation of St. James Street, and thence easterly and along St.
James Street to the place of beginning. Within these limits it was prohibited to
erect any structures composed of canvas, willow, cotton cloth, tules, mustard,
reeds, or other grassy substances, under a penalty of not less than twenty-five
or more than two hundred dollars. It also forbade the existence of any
hay-stacks, unless inclosed or suitably guarded, and enjoined the removal of
those then in existence, under the same penalty. There were, however, some
better buildings in the city than this ordinance would seem to indicate.
Three years prior to this, in 1847, Mr. William Campbell had commenced
the erection of a saw-mill on Quito Creek, afterwards known as Campbell Creek,
in the western part of the county. Owing to the scarcity of labor, everybody
having gone to the mines, the mill was not completed until 1848, in which year
Zachariah Jones also completed a mill. These mills furnished a supply of
building material, but it was costly, the charge for hauling alone being a
hundred dollars per thousand feet, while the lumber cost anywhere from two
hundred and fifty to seven hundred dollars per thousand While these efforts were
being made to secure building material from the foothills, other attempts were
being made nearer home. In the latter part of 1848 Mr. Osborn succeeded in
making brick, and he erected houses of this material the same year. The first
was built at the corner of Fifth and St. John Streets, another on Fifth between
St. John and St. James, and a third on St. John between Fourth and Fifth
Streets. Bricklayers, carpenters, and, in fact, mechanics of all kinds,
commanded sixteen dollars per day for their services, and this, with materials
at a correspondingly high price, made the building of houses a pretty expensive
operation. Nothing but the rich products of the newly discovered gold mines
rendered it possible.
The City Hotel, the principal hostelry of the pueblo, was built in 1849.
It was located on the west side of First Street, about where the Martin Block
now stands. The old-timers do not speak in glowing terms of its accommodations
for guests. The price for board and lodging was $5.00 per day; single meals,
$2.00.
The Mansion House, on First Street, between Santa Clara and St. John, occupied
the present site of the Music Hall building. It was commenced in 1849 and
completed early in 1850. It was erected by Joseph S. Ruckle, and cost $100,000.
This was the popular hotel for many years, and was headquarters for the members
of the Legislature, members of the Bar, and business and professional men. In
1853 Mr. A. S. Beaty was installed as landlord, and his memory will always be
kept green by those who were fortunate enough to have been his guests. The
building was burned May 31, 1865.
The United States Hotel was erected in 1850 on San Pedro Street. It was
first called the Pavilion, but its name was changed as above. The frame of this
building was made in Australia, and when completed the building cost over
$50,000. It never paid interest on the investment, and, in 1879, it was moved
upon Sixth Street and converted into a dwelling-house. In the same year A.
Chattelle expended $50,000 in erecting a two-story building on the west side of
Market Street near El Dorado Street, which was called the French Hotel. The
lower portion was used for gambling and became notorious.
J. D. Hoppe, in 1850, with Levi Goodrich as architect, put up what was
called a fine adobe building on the northeast corner of Santa Clara and Market
Streets, where T. W. Spring's store now is. The adobes were taken from the old
juzgado, which was torn down this year. Frank Lightston built two adobe houses
on Santa Clara Street opposite the Auzerais House. These buildings stood until
1871. O. L. Crosby built the house afterwards occupied by Mrs. Hensley in what
was afterwards known as the Hensley grounds, on First Street between Julian and
Empire. Wm. Van Voorhies, who was then Secretary of State, built a frame house
on Second Street near William, in this year. The old Morgan House was built this
year by Messrs. May, Lee, and McCune. It was on the corner of First and San
Fernando Streets, and was run as a boarding-house at first, but was opened as a
hotel in 1851, by John R. Price. In 1867 a portion was torn down and the corner
built up with brick, and a few years afterwards all of the old wooden building
was removed to make place for the Wilcox Block. During this year Governor
Burnett occupied a house on Second Street, near San Carlos. It was considered a
good building then, but would hardly meet popular opinion as a governor's
mansion now. The State House we have spoken of elsewhere. It was built by
Sansevain and Rochon, in 1849. In 1850 also was built the Bella Union. It stood
on the present site of the Auzerais House, on Santa Clara Street. It was a
two-story frame building with a sheet-iron roof. The frame was brought from the
Eastern States via Cape Horn. It was opened as a drinking saloon about Christmas
and played a conspicuous part in the early history of the city.
From 1850 there was not much building, nearly everybody being at the
mines; but in 1853 nearly a hundred houses were erected. Many of these were of
brick, it being estimated that 1,150,000 brick were used that year, all but
9,000 being manufactured in Santa Clara. Among the most prominent of these
buildings was one at the southeast corner of Santa Clara Street and Pacheco
Alley, which was occupied by the Supreme Court, and one at the southeast corner
of
Market and Santa Clara Streets. Merritt Brothers built a two-story brick
building on Fifth Street near St. John. This was considered an aristocratic
structure in those days. It is still standing. Auzerais Brothers built their
brick store on Market Street between El Dorado Street and the Catholic Church. A
two-story frame house was brought from San Francisco and put on the northwest
corner of Santa Clara and First Streets, where Knox Block now stands, It was
called the Railroad Hotel. The Sisters of Notre Dame commenced their brick
college building this year, with Levi Goodrich as architect. The county jail on
San Fernando Street, between Third and Fourth, was built at a cost of $15,000 in
1854.
In 1855 the old City Hall on Market Street was built. It was of brick
and adobe, 68x42 feet and two stories high. We speak of this in the past tense
in view of the new City Hall, which is fast approaching completion. Some brick
buildings were erected this year on the east side of Market Street between Santa
Clara and El Dorado Streets, Peter Davidson built some brick stores near the
northwest corner of Market and Santa Clara Streets.
In 1856 Eli Jones & Co. erected a brick store on the east side of First
Street between El Dorado and Santa Clara Streets.
In 1857 Mr. Stock built a house on First Street.
In 1858 Pfister & Co. built a two-story brick building on the southeast
corner of First and Santa Clara Streets, where Safe Deposit Block now stands.
The Catholic Church was encased in brick. This building was afterward destroyed
by fire. P. O. Minor put up the concrete building on the west side of First
Street between El Dorado and San Fernando.
In 1859 Auzerais Brothers built several buildings on Market Street south
of their store. Martin Murphy built ninety feet of the brick stores on the east
side of Market Street. Clemente Colombet built the brick block on the west side
of Market Street, called then the San Jose Hotel, now the Cosmopolitan. Stark's
Theater was built this year. It was on First Street nearly opposite the New York
Exchange. It was opened with the play of " Richelieu."
In 1863 the foundations of the Auzerais House, on Santa Clara Street,
were laid. It was completed in 1865. Cost of building and furniture, about
$160,000. Patrick Welch erected his brick stable on First Street, north of Santa
Clara. King and Knoche built the brick building on First Street, north of El
Dorado. The old railroad depot on San Pedro Street was built this year.
In 1864 the Hensley Block, at the northwest corner of Market and Santa
Clara Streets, was erected. It was then called the Masonic and Odd Fellows' Hall
Building. It was occupied below by James Hart's dry-goods store, when it was,
early in the 70's, rented for the use of the post-office, and continued in that
use until 1888. C. T. Ryland built a two-story brick building at the northeast
corner of First and San Fernando Streets. He added to it in 1869. It is now used
as the Lick House. In this year the first part of Knox Block was erected, at the
northwest corner of Santa Clara and First Streets. Two stores were added on
First Street in 1867.
In 1866 the Court House, opposite St. James' Square, was commenced. It
was not finished until 1868. Haskell & Porter, Strauss & Brown, S. A. Clark and
John Stock, erected brick buildings on the west side of First Street, between
San Fernando and El Dorado Streets.
In 1867 the Santa Clara Street Schoolhouse was built. The New York
Exchange Building, on First Street, was completed this year, and opened by
Martin Corcoran. Levy Brothers built a brick building at the southwest corner of
First and Santa Clara Streets. It has been remodeled, and is now owned and
occupied by the First National Bank. John Balbach put up his brick building on
Santa Clara Street, between Market and First. Part of the old Morgan House, at
the northwest corner of First and San Fernando Streets, was removed, and a brick
building erected. The remainder of the house was afterwards taken away, and the
block completed with a two-story brick structure. Part of this block is now
occupied by the Garden City National Bank.
In 1868 Martin Murphy built the brick building on the south side of
Santa Clara Street, between Lightston Street and Market, now occupied by the
City Stables. Adolph Pfister built the brick building at the southeast corner of
Santa Clara and Second Streets. Charles Otter built the brick building at the
southwest corner of St. John and First Streets, forming a portion of the New
York Exchange Block. H. M. Newhall erected the building at the northeast corner
of Market and First Streets, since occupied by T. W. Springs' store.
In 1870 Brohaska's Opera House was completed. It was situated on the
north side of Santa Clara Street, between Second and Third. It was finished in
modern style, and was considered, at that time, the best theater building in the
interior of the State. It was opened with " London Assurance," with John T.
Raymond as "Mark Meddle." The building was destroyed by fire in 1881. This year
the Jewish Synagogue, corner of Third and San Antonio Streets, was built. The
first normal school building was commenced this year. Music Hall Building, on
First Street, was erected. The new county jail was built. The first asphaltum
sidewalk was constructed this year. It was on the north side of Santa Clara
Street, from First to Market. It was built by a Frenchman, named Neuval, and was
the best ever made in the city, lasting for many years.
In 1871 the Bank of San Jose Building was erected. In 1872 the Safe
Deposit Block was built. Later it was extended south to Fountain Street.
It is not intended in this chapter to give the dates of construction of
all the buildings in the city, but to give some of the old landmarks, and to
trace the march of improvements for the first twenty years of American
occupation. During the Spanish and Mexican administration, which covered a
period of more than half a century, not more than a dozen buildings were erected
in the pueblo, and these were of the rudest character: Within twenty years after
the Americans took possession, the pueblo had become a thriving city, with
substantial business blocks and beautiful residences, and has already become
known as the "Garden City."